CLOUDY skies and showers are predicted for polling day – but the weather is unlikely to affect voter turnout.

That’s the view of Dr Stephen Fisher, a politics lecturer at Oxford University, who will be analysing the election results on Thursday.

Dr Fisher, 35, from Trinity College, said: “We have looked at 16 General Elections and there is not enough evidence from the pattern of the turnout and the weather on election day to suggest that the weather makes a difference.

“There is a common myth that Labour voters fail to turn up at the polling booths when the weather is bad, but that is an old wives’ tale. There were low turnouts in 2001 and in 2005 and the weather was good on both days.

“Another myth is that a high turnout is good for Labour but bad for the Tories, but there is no tendency for left-wing parties to do better when there is a high turnout.”

Most areas on Thursday are expected to see a mixture of sunny spells and showers, according to the Met Office.